Maybe consider Hard Case and and Lookout instead of Syndicate Liaison and Extortionist? Extortionist effectively costs three and Hard Case is two and cheaper is always nicer. As far as Lookout vs. Liaison, Lookout can be used every turn as opposed to the Liaison's once. The downside to the Lookout is that he's not a criminal, but he can always be your one character readied each turn--you don't particularly need to ready your own Crooked Attorneys.

 

Johnny V's Dame is also really nice in any deck with criminals.

I don't have the pack Lookout comes in, though I'd definitely get him in there if I did. Hard Case got cut over Extortionist and my reasoning was I wanted the investigation icons, though that might be moot considering the idea is to get David Pan and the Council rolling ASAP. I might throw both in and let the deck be a little beefy while I continue to play test.

 

Johnny V's Dame is nice, though I'm not sure where I'd fit her in. Maybe cut Will of Azathoth. Problem is I don't yet have that pack either, though I do have that one ordered. I had originally thought Gold Pocket Watch in place of that card, though I don't think it would actually work like I want it to with La Bella Luna.

Johnny V's Dame is nice, though I'm not sure where I'd fit her in. Maybe cut Will of Azathoth. Problem is I don't yet have that pack either, though I do have that one ordered. I had originally thought Gold Pocket Watch in place of that card, though I don't think it would actually work like I want it to with La Bella Luna.

 

First off, it's a really neat deck idea, thanks for posting it.  Mono-Syndicate is a personal favorite of mine (especially Hanyatl's and Hack Journalist), so I'll have to give this a spin.  One option:  I may change it up to do a Syndicate/Agency exhaustion/denial day deck.  I did this with an Agency-Yog combo but it didn't quite work.  Perhaps Syndicate has enough exhaustion effects to really make Unending Festivities hurt?

 

Secondly, you're right that you can't use The Gold Pocket Watch to make it day to trigger La Bella Luna's day-condition response as there isn't an action window before the Refresh phase.

 

Last, a few card options:

 

I can see Panic! working well with this deck, especially if you've made it day and have La Bella Luna in play.

 

I agree that cutting Extortionist for Hard Case is a good idea.  If you're worried about investigation, try x2 Ol' Lazy Eyes and either x2 The Red-Gloved Man or x2 Amaranth.  This gives you another character with investigation and what amounts to 7 copies of your conspiracy.

 

Your deck is vulnerable to a Khopesh board wipe (and doesn't have any support card control).  I might drop Will of Azathoth for x2 Dutch Courage, or perhaps more characters, such as x2 Peter Clover.

Immurement is in there to deal with supports and problem non AO characters, and can deal with Kopesh in a more permanent manner by making my opponent resource it. It does come with a high cost though and I agree if I'm not immediately ready to play it Kopesh ruins my day. I thought about adding City Map to help me fish it out. Also I'm considering adding in Isaac Miles to help ward against any Yithian graveyard type nonsense.

 

Thanks for the feedback! I'm getting ready to go to the regional in Dayton next week and I have four project decks I'm working on. Still not sure what I'm going to take.

Immurement is in there to deal with supports and problem non AO characters

 

Right.  I forgot about the support card aspect as I generally use it for character control.  In that case, City Map is probably a better use of space than Dutch Courage.  Being able to filter your deck and increase your card draw can really pay off if you manage to play City Map early.

 

We had two Yithian decks at our regional in Portland, and a few other Shub-based decks that recycled characters from the discard pile.  While you don't necessarily want to over-seed your deck with anit-recursion cards, you'll need something to deal with the Y-Train as it's likely to show up at a competitive event.  Isaac Miles looks like a solid inclusion all around.

 

You may also consider Prepared Alienist.  He prevents a whole host of annoying characters and effects from wrecking your day, such as Black Dog, Dreamlands Fanatic, Stygian Eye, and Nathaniel Peaslee.  Of course, Prepared Alienist doesn't play nicely with Hanyatl's so it depends on what's more important for the deck.

you'll need something to deal with the Y-Train as it's likely to show up at a competitive event.

Well, that depends a bit on where you're from. Fortunately, so far, it's been suspiciously absent from European Regionals or Championships.

That's interesting. I know the European player base thinks it's a weak deck, but I'm surprised no one has taken it at all. Both Y-Train decks proved difficult to beat at our regional and I wouldn't leave any of my competitive decks totally defenseless against them.

Prepared Alienist for sure doesn't mesh well with what I'm trying to do. Stygian Eye and Nathaniel Peaslee are a little scary, but I don't know they scare me enough to upend the deck concept.

 

I did a little testing with City Map and I'm not sure I care for it. I want it to be like a Flooded Vault for tactic cards, and it just isn't. If it was search top 5 cards for a tactic and place remaining cards back in any order on TOP of your deck I'd be all about it. What's happening frequently when I'm testing is I'm essentially milling cards off the top that I want. They go to the bottom, never to be seen again. My test games don't seem to be lasting long enough to filter the cards back to the top. I'm sure there are plenty of times it can save my ass too, just seems to be a gamble. I'm learning towards Dutch Courage in place of it, but want to test a little more. I've yet to get multiple maps going at once.

 

Also thinking about Snow Graves over Isaac Miles. Can always Snow Graves myself so Naomi can clean house with her ability if I have an Immurement in the yard.

 

As for Yithians, I don't really have much experience facing them. Most of the players in our group are fairly new, and only a few of us have TKATG. I've only seen one of our guys run them.

I suggested Prepared Alienist because I thought you could exhaust the Alienist and then trigger the condition on Hanyatl's to pop in your Hack Journalist, then ready Prepared Alienist with arcane to prevent any character theft on your opponent's turn (though that doesn't work as nicely for bringing O'Bannion's Inner Circle to a story for free).  Oh well, not a good fit.

 

Snow Graves prevents cards like Yithian Scout, Dark Passenger, and Interstellar Migration, but it doesn't do anything against Lost Oracle and Studying the Void.  Miles is the opposite.  Personally I've found Lost Oracle to be very annoying, especially against a rush deck, so I would rather protect against her.  That's just my preference, though.

Hardcase in for sure. If you're going 1 heavy domain over spread out, Panic! is a great inclusion. Issac Miles is great in any deck, and the counter Shub/Yog stuff is a bonus. If only he were a Criminal he'd be god like. 

Lookout is good just a tad expensive and ya cant' go to stories with him when you want too usually. However, there is some seriously BS he can pull. Ask me to show ya this Tomm or Wed and I'll explain. 

I still don't like Numbers Runner, but we've had this talk before. Also, if you're really relying on La Bella Luna, you need more Day Cards. And yes sadly, as pointed out, the timing window on PocketWatch won't work with it. I learned that the hard way and had to scrap a whole deck over it. 

I do kind of like the idea of them getting 4 Success tokens, you Will of Azathoth-ing the story, then get Hack Journalist to steal the points. I can just feel the rage on that one. 
and yes, just like my deck, Khopesh will be your worst enemy. 

Did you figure out which 3 cards you left behind?

Did you figure out which 3 cards you left behind?

 

Yeah when he got home he found 3 red sleeved Crooked Attorneys lying right on the table heh

Yup! My only three cards to make it day to work with La Bella Luna. The final result of this deck saw me getting rid of most of the exhaustion effects (I added in Panic as the only one). I'm still not altogether happy with the deck, it takes it in the shorts when paired up against a heavy removal deck. In two of my losses Saturday I had a greatly favorable board position negated by Plague Stone (actually a double Plague Stone) and Khopesh, and I had no answers in my hand.

I've also been hoisted by my own petard a few times with David Pan, usually by being too agressive with him early.